KEY POINTS:
Drivers will continue to feel pain at the pump despite the price of crude oil falling back from record highs.
Brent crude, the US-traded global benchmark for oil, broke through the US$100 mark for the first time on January 3 but has since dropped back, trading around US$88 yesterday.
Oil companies said it was more important to consider the price of refined products traded in Singapore that are imported and used in New Zealand, and which don't always move in line with crude oil.
"The cost of refined product usually moves in line with crude but it doesn't always happen that way," said BP spokeswoman Diana Stretch.
Ulrik Olsen, sales manager for Gull Petroleum, said any fall in the crude price would filter down to refined product prices and eventually to the price at the pump.
Shell, Caltex and Gull dropped diesel prices by four or five cents a litre to 120.9c a litre yesterday.
Oil companies insisted the situation would be worse if the NZ dollar wasn't so strong, and said they were passing on any savings to consumers.
Hamish Wilson, testing manager at Consumer New Zealand, said drivers were paying for oil companies' record profits and said there was room for petrol prices to come down.
"When prices rise overseas you'll see prices here follow pretty quickly, but when prices fall overseas there are always all sorts of reasons why they can't go down here, and we're paying for that at the pump," he said.
Motorists the Herald spoke to yesterday seemed resigned to paying higher prices and could not envisage any improvement in the near future.
Frazer Parkinson from Ellerslie said he had become more conscious of his driving habits and would drive out of his way to use discount vouchers for fuel.
"I've got a voucher here for 10c a litre off and I drove an extra two kilometres to use it. I never really used to think about it," Mr Parkinson said.
"I think you're conscious of where you drive these days and we definitely plan ahead more when we are going away."
Frank Lopeti, also of Auckland, said his V8 car was "not cheap to run", and with family who live in Northland, the return trip from Auckland wasn't something he could do often. "You really have to budget for it now."
AA spokesman Mark Stockdale said the Government could be doing more to alleviate the pain.
He said the AA had raised the issue of GST with the Government, as motorists are paying "a tax on a tax".
PAIN AT THE PUMP
Average fuel prices:
January 3: US-traded Brent crude US$100 a barrel, highest ever.
91 octane 171.6c a litre, diesel 125.8c.
Yesterday: Brent crude $88.98.
91 octane 170.9c, diesel 120.9c-125.9c.
